Finding Haven (21 page)

“A drink sounds good.” He took the bottle from her and fastened the corkscrew to the
top while she pulled out two glasses from the cabinet.

He filled them over halfway and handed one to her. “To my first hurricane.” He winked.

The gesture sent a rush of excitement coursing through her body. She had to force
herself to drink the wine and stop staring at his face. A face that looked perfect
and symmetrical. He had a deeper tan than when he first started working, and his eyes
looked relaxed. She wanted to reach up and run her fingers through his hair, but she
kept her hands on the wine glass.

“To your first hurricane.” She smiled and took a bigger sip.

The wine tingled the back of her throat just like the awareness racing in her veins.
They were utterly alone, and Haven knew what happened when they were alone—what always
happened.

The wind shook the house and the lights flickered to darkness. The only glow came
from the two candles she had just lit.

“I guess that’s what you mean by a strong wind,” Jay teased and stepped to the side
of the island. He placed his glass on the counter. His eyes flared in the candlelight,
and she recognized the look. It was the same one she was wearing.

She nodded, studying his expression. Each time the flame flickered, her heart pounded
louder in her chest. She willed it to quiet, but under his stare, she couldn’t control
how she reacted to him.

There was nothing she wanted more than his lips on hers. He was so close that she
could almost taste them. She had been waiting for another kiss since the last time
he had touched her. It was almost all she could think about when he was around, and
now he was here, with her, locked in the dark with a wicked hurricane descending on
them.

It was almost a whisper, but she called his name as his hand reached forward and cupped
her cheek. His mouth was on hers, hungry and strong, bringing her against his chest.
She clutched at his back, feeling the tightness of his muscles through his shirt.
In the distance, she thought she heard a roll of thunder, but her thoughts were clouded
with lust—the house might be collapsing—she didn’t know. There was another crash,
but this time she knew it was their wine glasses as Jay picked her up and sat her
on the counter.

It was reckless and commanding, but also hot and powerful how he took control. His
mouth trailed from her lips, along her jawline, and behind her ear, where she felt
the heat of his tongue. It sent a shudder along her spine, instantly lighting a fire
throughout her body. She gripped at his neck, gliding her hands along his back, unable
to settle on one location. She needed to touch him everywhere. He had to feel the
same desperate ache she had. They needed to know each other this way. Enough about
music and lyrics and small town stories; this was what they wanted. Skin slid against
skin until their world was tipped upside down like a swirling hurricane.

He parted her knee to the side and slid his free hand against her thigh. His tongue
lapped at the base of her throat, while his hand cradled her neck. The jolt from the
contact burned somewhere deep inside, like a blistering warmth that smoldered hotter
with each second that passed. His fingers pressed into the soft flesh, inching their
way to the hem of her shorts.

“Mmm.” She exhaled as he pressed her knee wider. “Oh.”

His fingers gripped the fabric on her panties and tugged them to the side. Haven tensed
under his control. Her thighs flexed and twinged from the position he had her in.
As if he could read her hesitation, his lips kissed her mouth, slowly at first, and
then deeper and harder as his fingers slipped inside, working in and out until she
was panting at the strokes.

“Does that feel good?” His gaze was intense and held her suspended in that place of
heavy want. Her knee kept drifting back to center, as if the burning feeling taking
over would cool. He pushed it to the side again with command, leaving her untouched
and feeling empty where his fingers had been.

Haven nodded and bit hard on her bottom lip. Everything between her legs throbbed.
She wanted him to keep going, but she had to be willing to open up to him. Everywhere
he touched her felt fiery and electric. She was afraid she couldn’t handle the scorching
strokes even though she needed them.

“Darlin’, you have to tell me what you want.” He nuzzled her neck. Her head tilted
back, and everything was spinning inside her. His fingers toyed with her panties until
he had worked them to the side, but it was so intense, she pulled her leg back, keeping
him from the spot he wanted.

He growled and shifted on his feet, taking his fingers away and resting them on the
top of her leg. He was giving her control, but somehow she felt like he was the one
in charge. She reached forward, twisting her hands against his neck to kiss him as
she let her leg swing against the counter, the way he wanted it.

She smiled as she felt the heat spread through her body when his fingers dipped back
inside. He added another and she bit into his neck from the pressure. She tightened
around him, reveling in their exchange. The storm raged around them as the thunder
shook the chandelier overhead.

“Tell me,” he growled.

“What do you want to hear?” She ran her tongue along his neck, as if she could drink
in part of him this way. She wanted to taste him and distract him.

“Tell me what you want me to do to you.” He pushed inside her and started a new motion
with his thumb that Haven knew would lead to toe-curling screams in a few minutes
if he didn’t stop. She gasped at the sensation, her breath ragged.

This wasn’t a time to talk, she thought. This was a time to feel and let things happen.
No one had asked her to reveal so much before; it was unchartered territory. Her throat
clamped shut and she closed her eyes. Why was he torturing her like this? She wasn’t
sure she could unleash her inner vixen like he wanted. All she knew to do was to let
her body take over as he gave her pleasure one minute after the next. Wasn’t that
enough?

Jay eased his fingers from inside her, and placed both hands on her hips. It was hard
not to whimper, and guide his hands back where they were wanted. The breath between
them was hot and rapid. He rested his forehead against hers. Haven fought for balance.

“I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to do. Tell me, and I’ll do it.” He
kissed her neck, sending shockwaves down her spine. She was quickly losing her search
for steadiness. The undoing felt too delicious. “Don’t tell me, and I can find a pack
of playing cards and we can play war all night while we wait for the hurricane.”

He nipped at her ear, and her pent up restraint ebbed. This was a test, an incredibly
difficult test.

“It’s just us. No one else. There’s no one to hear what you want, except me.” His
voice was low and sexy. He held her chin with his thumb and forefinger, driving her
wild with thirst for him.

The wind whipped the corner of the shutter, and it caught between the latch. Jay’s
eyes sharpened.

She didn’t know if she could say what she wanted him to do, but she knew it would
be worse if she let him move one inch away from her without trying. She needed him;
she needed this. She couldn’t help it. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and her
heart almost pounded out of her chest.

Like the lightning all around them, her eyes flashed to his. “Take me.”

No sooner were the words from her lips than she felt the shirt ripped from her arms.
He grabbed her around the waist. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him, pulling
fistfuls of hair while his tongue explored her mouth.

It was as if a switch had been flipped, and all the slow and easy dance moves they
had been stepping for weeks were gone. Everything about this was primal and raw.

Jay didn’t bother walking to the bed or the small couch. He kneeled on the kitchen
floor with one hand securely around her waist. Haven reached for his shirt and pulled
it over his head, desperate to feel his chest against hers. She unclasped the hook
on her bra and watched Jay’s eyes fill with desire.

“You are so fucking sexy.” He breathed as his mouth claimed one and then the other
nipple. Haven rocked back on her heels, ready to give this man anything and everything
he asked of her body. He had control, and it felt good to let go and unravel into
his arms.

Carefully, he braced her with his hands so that her back was against the floor. With
expert skill, he unbuttoned her shorts and nudged them down her legs. Haven watched,
her chest rising with heavy breaths, as he released the buckle on his shorts and dropped
them from his waist. She had honestly never seen a body like that. It was toned and
athletic, and even in the candlelight, she could see where the lines met on his sculpted
abs. If it wasn’t for the burning need consuming her, she might lie here all night
and study the man inhaling her like his last breath of air.

She exhaled, nervous for the first time that maybe he was more than she could handle.
He leaned down and kissed her fully on the mouth before his hand slipped between her
legs.

“Oh.” She bowed off the floor, bringing him right against the skin that was burning
for him the most. Surely, he could feel that she was throbbing and aching for him.

His fingers circled continuously, while she whimpered softly, trying not to give in
to her body’s impulse. All she wanted was to be released from the building pressure
in her core, but not until he was inside her. She pulled her knees together as if
that would slow things down and calm the need. He had her on her back, but she might
as well be on her knees she was so close to begging.

He kissed her stomach and delivered hot breaths along the trail leading between her
legs. This was it. She wasn’t turning back. He pulled the ties on her panties until
there was nothing but a scrap of fabric between them. He yanked it to the side.

Her breath quickened as he pushed her knees apart, and his tongue began teasing and
toying her. She moaned and bit harder on her lip, forbidding herself to lose control
like this.

“I want to hear you, baby.” He kissed her stomach, and she felt like she had a chance
to regain some balance. What he was doing was pushing her to the tipping point, and
if she tipped, she knew she would regret losing control without him. His fingers dug
into the inner softness of her thigh and pressed her leg to the floor again. He was
determined to drive her crazy, his way.

She moaned again, trying to steady the desire that was claiming her one touch at a
time. No more teasing and touching, she wanted him, but did he want her as badly?
Because it felt like she would die on her kitchen floor on the brink of a hurricane
if he didn’t take her.

The shutters clanged against the windows, and Haven got her answer. He grazed her
neck with his teeth and growled in her ear. “I want to be inside you, so damn much.”

She nodded, unable to utter a syllable. Her hips rose as he plunged into her, bowing
her off the floor. The next was deeper and more intense; she grasped his back and
buried her head in his shoulder, consumed with the blissful swirl of pain and incredible
fullness he gave. She arched against him with every thrust, rocking harder and longer,
him moving in and out until they both surrendered to the fire they had created. She
screamed toward the ceiling as he drove into her one last time, possessing her, claiming
her like she had always been his—she just didn’t know it until now. The sensations
spiraled through her core until all she could do was hold on to him, and pray she
could still breathe when she let go.

She wanted to take it back; none of those other moments made her breathless.
This
made her breathless. She smiled and ran her fingers along his back.

E
VAN ROLLED
his neck to the side. He really did pull something when he tied down the campers.
He massaged it with his free hand. Haven was tucked under his arm, her auburn hair
loose and falling over her shoulder. Damn, she took him by surprise. He watched her
exhale shallow breaths. He traced the curve of the small of her back, and over her
hips, until his hand rested at her waist.

The last time he woke up on a kitchen floor was when he literally drank himself under
the table; this time it was for a whole new reason. A blue-eyed island girl had officially
knocked him off his feet. His hand feathered over her skin. He couldn’t stop touching
her, wanting her.